Things they don't tell you about True Love's Kiss
by A.Door
Summary: These are the things that they don't tell you about True Love's Kiss: 3) It packs a punch. Set at the end of season 5 just after they return from the Underworld.
1. Sometimes it's inconvenient

**Author's note:** This story is placed just after everyone comes back from the Underworld. I'm hoping that I'm able to finish this before season 5b starts up. The challenge is on.

* * *

 **These are the things that they don't tell you about True Love's Kiss.**

 **1\. Sometimes, it's inconvenient. Like, really inconvenient.**

Emma Swan should have known that this was how the situation was going to end. Well, not end per say because that would infer a denouement to the shit show that is her life.

No, the end meaning an end to the darkness that she had consumed so long ago for the new situation.

Right now, there are five things that Emma Swan knows

 **One:** She's lying on the ground and, if she's not mistaken there's a wet patch where her shoulder blades meet.

 **Two:** Everyone sans Hook, who decided to stay dead in the Underworld, is back in Storybrooke.

 **Three:** She doesn't hear foreign Dark One voices anymore. Which yay, because she hated hearing about Chimera cravings.

 **Four:** There's a tingle on her lips and the taste of light magic on her tongue.

 **And Five:** Regina's really, really close to her face. Like, so close that Emma can see what she had affectionately labelled the scar of seduction eons ago and, stains of tears streaking down her face.

Emma tries to get up, fails and then groans.

"Regina? What the hell happened?" she asks groggily, trying to cover her failure.

She blinks heavily and takes another look at the woman, who, at the moment is looking both horrified and scared, looking as rough as Emma internally feels. She looks up the woman she addressed and receives silence, which is a little weird because the other woman is notorious for her quick wit and succinct explanations.

Her parents, Henry and Robin are all there, standing around them a little awkwardly. She blinks again and starts to feel the dredges of consciousness loose her.

And no one is still saying anything.

"We need to get you to the hospital," David says this gently, trying to lead when no one else is.

She grimaces, "No, no hospitals, I just need to lie down, like, I am now. I'm good here, just put traffic cones around me." She hates hospitals.

She feels a gentle hold on her arm and, in the next moment, she's hears a whoosh and feels as light as a feather.

The disinfectant filters through her nostrils making them twitch and, she instantly knows that Regina has transported everyone to the hospital. It figures that the Mayor would never have listened to her.

The hold on her arm loosens and is replaced by the abrasiveness of her mothers.

"Are you ok? Where else are you hurt? You're bleeding," Mary Margaret asks in a flurry. The maternal gesture makes Emma want to whine like a child about being tough and strong but, she doesn't.

"Oh come on, it's just a little flesh wound," Emma replies.

She knows that she's on a hospital bed, she can feel the frenzy going around her, the tension in the room, the beeping of monitors and calls for doctors.

What she wouldn't give for just a little bit of morphine or a shot of Jack right now.

But, in all the disarray she hears one awed statement.

"Mom saved you," she hears her son's voice causing her to look at him.

"Henry." She says this reverently, as if it were the first time she learned his name or, the last time that she will ever say it.

Life and death situations have a strange way of bringing out emotions like that and, she hates that she has become more than acquaintances with it in the past few years.

"Mom _saved_ you, Emma," he says more firmly taking a slight step towards her. She notices the slight undercurrent of desperation in his tone as if her were trying to convey something important.

She blinks heavily.

She remembers getting separated from everyone with Regina, running away from Cerberus into Hades lair, remembers being stabbed by Hades (Thanks asshole), remembers being infected by a curse that had been killing her slowly from the inside because of Asshole's stab.

She remembers leaving Hook in the Underworld because he had met with his lost love. She remembers a hurt not one forged from the heart but, through knowing the abandonment of someone dear to her once again.

She remembers getting back to Storybrooke and collapsing onto Regina.

She remembers seeing black.

She doesn't remember how she woke but she knows that the curse had been broken with a True Loves Kiss.

"Regina?"

The woman in question caught like a deer in headlights desperately looks from Robin to her to Henry to her again and before anyone can say anything else, she leaves in a puff of purple smoke.

It smells like cinnamon and feels like a lonely sort of safety.

Before any more comments can be a made, a nurse walks in, "Ah, the Charmings again, I do hope that you've remembered to bring your medical insurance information this time."

And dammit, Emma just had to forget to lodge the premium papers for hospital insurance last month.

Saving everyone is damn inconvenient sometimes.

* * *

 **Thank you for reading.**


	2. Some people understand it

**A/N:** Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favourited or followed. I have a general idea of where this story is going but, would love to hear what you think as the journey goes on.

* * *

 **Things they don't tell you about True Love's Kiss.**

 **2\. Some people understand it and, some people don't. [Sort of].**

Charming would like to think that he was a simple man with a simple life however, he knows that wishing isn't always a guarantee. So when he looks at his forlorn daughter, swinging on her office chair, he hopes that he will at least do right by her.

He sits at the edge of her desk and toes her seat so that she stops, if only this weren't the first time he'd stopped her precarious swinging.

"C'mon kiddo, it's ok, we'll find her. She's basically a Charming now and we always fi…"

"I dare you to finish that sentence," she cuts in.

"…call each other," he finishes lamely.

Emma palms her face to rid herself of the fatigue she's feeling, it works for a fleeting second. It had been a few days since she'd been released from hospital and, she still hadn't seen nor heard from Regina. She had always been an investigator and yet, all of her leads ended her nowhere. She had even spoken to Gold and he wasn't much help. Though, to be fair, he had been dealing with the sudden departure of Belle.

She hadn't even spoken two words before he had sneered at her with such ferocity that she was sure that he was the Dark One again. She may or may not have run for the hills after that.

The only person that was in contact with the other woman was Henry and, whenever she pestered him about his mother's whereabouts, he'd give her a sidelong glance and a, "I can't tell you Ma. Mother and son confidentiality." There was so much Regina in him that it made Emma determined to find her even more.

She sighs, "I don't know why Regina's freaking out so much, I mean, it worked with Henry and didn't mean anything."

David nods his head sombrely, "Agreed. I mean, even though you guys and Henry True Loved Kiss on the forehead and y'know, you and Regina did that on the mouth."

It's the first time that anyone has acknowledged where the kiss had occurred and, it causes complicated butterflies to erupt in her stomach.

"David," she scathes and then, punches him on the arm.

He winces and looks properly admonished. Good.

He puts up his arms in a gesture of arm stance.

"I'm just saying, if it didn't mean anything beyond a platonic True Loves Gal Pal Kiss on the mouth, then, why are you here moping?" He tries to placate.

He has a point. Whether or not Emma chooses to admit or accept it is a different story. His words also have the affect of causing her to question what really occurred that night. Why couldn't she remember? Was it just a simple peck on the lips? Was it a full on make out session? Would Regina really play tonsil hockey with her whilst she was unconscious? She had racked her brain and heart trying to find the answers.

Admittedly Emma always had feelings for Regina, it was one of those tenuous relationships, always a slow building push and pull between them, it was like a bad movie trope. From rivals to frienamies to potential romantic partnership. And honestly, have you seen the woman?

Regardless, Emma had learnt to temper those thoughts and desires, it was difficult but, she had stopped fantasizing about the two of them in Law & Order type scenarios where they were magical partners solving magical crimes. Stopped creating impossible story lines that would never happen or, rehearsing her lines in the arguments between them that would invariably bring them closer.

She placed them in a box so far in her mind that she only remembered it was there whenever she drunk and alone. Or, whenever she heard Mr. Brightside play on the radio.

 _It was only a kiss,_ Oh the fucking irony.

David looks at her, waiting for her to react to his statement but, she's just not ready yet.

"Gal Pal?" she tries to misdirect.

David understands her avoidance and shrugs unrepentantly, "Mary Margaret watches Oprah."

If Emma had ever questioned whether or not she was his daughter, this was the proof. All the awkward mannerisms and uncertain gestures when conversing well, that and apparently the blonde hair and chin thing.

"Why _do_ you guys call each other your cursed names?" she asks genuinely curious.

He frowns for a moment, rubs his chin and then, "Who says that our Enchanted Forrest names weren't our cursed names? We abandoned you during that time didn't we?"

It's the first verbal admission by her father taking the blame for forcing a baby, _her_ , to the world without magic. When she was the Dark One, she had always wanted to prey on her parents insecurities. There was always something seducing her to outright seek revenge on her parents like she never had the opportunity to do as a teenager. But, when she sees the look on David's face, she's glad that she never gave into that temptation. Not when she can do it now when she's, 'magically sober' and more reasonable.

Though, now is defiantly not the time for this discussion, especially when there are so many thoughts in her head, not when the Darkness still lingers within her.

Emma knows that this is not attrition on David's part but, it's something that had never been acknowledged, Regina had always shouldered the blame for that one.

For everything.

She almost rolls her eyes at that last thought. Regina, it always goes back to Regina.

David notices the melancholy change in his daughter and wraps an arm around her to bring her back from her reverie.

And Emma, for her part, thinks that this is the way that fathers comfort their daughters but then, she wouldn't know.

"Come on, let's go fi…" he stops and thinks for a second, "I mean, search, seek, track Regina."

He gives her a cheesy grin to which she slowly and identically returns.

She may not know but, she's starting to learn.

* * *

Regina feels the presence before she sees them.

"Go away Snow," she orders exasperated.

In return, Snow White aka Mary Margaret nonchalantly takes a seat as if it were any normal visit.

"Regina, we need to talk," she states giving that maternal look that, in all honestly, she shouldn't have adopted so quickly.

"I can see where your daughter gets her penchant for meddling from," Regina replies.

An eyebrow quirks and, Regina can't help but try to calculate how long this woman has known her, "You're only just realising this now?"

Regina crosses her arms and leans against a cabernet in her vault, "Excuse me if I've been busy with being a mother to Henry, finding my soul mate, dealing with my soul mate and, oh yes, having a True Love moment with Miss Swan previously known as the Dark One."

In response, Snow looks at her sharply, "Don't do that."

"Do what?"

"Reduce what Emma means to you."

"What do you want?" Regina finally asks.

Mary Margaret shifts awkwardly, "You saved Emma with a True Loves Kiss, I think that prompts a talk, if not to Emma than, perhaps to someone else that has known you for a really long time."

Regina bores her eyes into Snow's and then decidedly says, "Perhaps you're right, I should give Kathryn a call."

"Regina, stop with the bullshit," Snow snaps.

It's a blunt statement that Regina had never thought would fall from Snow's mouth, it's almost terrifying.

"Excuse me?" She asks in lieu of a proper response.

"You saved my daughter, your son's other mother with an act that is the literal tangible rendering promise of always and forever. At the very least, I thought that you'd be gloating about your conquering of your arch nemesis' daughter," Mary Margaret reasons in the way that only she can. Bluntly and honestly, with just a rouge of misguided hope.

"She is not one to be conquered, we both know that," Regina replies.

As soon as the statement comes out of her mouth, she wants to shove it back in, because even though neither had never articulated what Emma means to Regina, she had all but said so in just one sentence.

There are a few moments for breathing for Snow to come to realisation on her own and, when it does, a disenchanting clarity comes with it, "You like my daughter." Not an accusation but, an astonished whisper.

"Thank you Captain Obvious," she winces at her own retort because anything to do with a Captains title right now just reminds her of jealously, longing, life and death.

Her visitor just shakes her head, coming to her own conclusions.

"No, you like, like her."

Regina knows that Snow will not back down, but then, neither will she.

"From the mere fact that I 'True Love Kissed' her, I believe it's safe to assume that I may more than like her Snow," she finally concedes.

"I don't understand," they both know that this is a lie.

Regina and Snow both understand where these feelings, where this love manifested. From protecting Emma's light to knowing where her prized possession was, to understand the lust for darkness to dragging the undeniable truths from her.

Truth and reality have come to ahead and, yeah, it's complicated to say the least.

Regina sighs and looks away, unable to look at the large hopeful eyes that remind her of Emma and her son.

"Emma Swan is the biggest pain in my life, she tried to take my son away from me even though she legally has no rights to do so, I have worked with her to protect him at all costs, she has terrible taste in men, she makes decisions that will undoubtingly end her life one day. And, she understands and reminds me of all the good days and worst days in my past only to be there for the future, whatever may come of it."

She plays with a bat claw that Emma had once touched, "And for that, I cannot help but be in love that half-wit," she whispers affectionately.

And, it feels good to finally, _finally_ admit it out loud. Even if it's to her nemesis about her nemesis' daughter. Ok so, she probably should have chosen someone else to admit that to. Regina knows that there are a thousand questions that the other woman wants to ask but, she's greatful that she doesn't.

Regina hears a shuffling then, she feels an arm on her shoulder almost wanting to make her recoil. She doesn't and for a second, Regina can't help but think that she's gone soft that, she's let herself become vulnerable too quickly.

Perhaps that's the price of True Love's Kiss.

"What's going to happen now?" she hears.

She tightens her hold on the damn claw, feels the veins in her arm pulsating and wishes that she could conjure something useful with it.

"I don't know Snow, but, I'm just so tired."

* * *

 **Thank you for reading.**


	3. It packs a punch

**Authors Note:** Thank you for the reviews, favs and the like. In regards to Emma and Regina sorting out their feelings, it'll happen in the next few chapters. They need to talk. Perhaps they'll get a few people to push them in the right direction?

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 **3\. It packs a punch.**

O.k so, maybe that point was a little misleading.

Emma's in the hospital once again within the span of two weeks.

Currently she's checking for a concussion and, it's a wonder how there isn't a specific wing to look into people's brains with all the amnesia spells and head wounds Enchanted Forrest folk seem to be receiving.

No one is safe from the floor or a good knockout apparently.

She groans at the lights and the alcohol slowly dissipating from her system, she must have hit her head harder than she thought.

* * *

 **Two Hours Prior.**

"Sherriff, I think that you've had too much to drink," it's a man's voice, she knows this but, there is just one overwhelming thought that is at the forefront of her mind.

"WHY DOESN'T SHE WANNA TALK TO ME?" she bellows. At this stage, she's had more than a few drinks.

The man trying to usher her into safety is, of course Robin Hood or, Robin Locksley? The fleeting question of what he's going to fully name his new kid is in her mind.

As he tries to physically bring her to the bar for a seat and some water, she cannot help but cringe at his musk or perhaps, that's just her general dislike at him.

He brings her a glass and as she drinks, he speaks, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"It's not that she doesn't want to talk to you. You and I both know that she just needs her time to process."

"Why can't we process together?" She whines lifting up her empty glass for a refill.

He takes the glass and refills it, "Sometimes, in relationships you just need your own space from the other person."

She makes an unattractive snort whilst drinking, half surprised that she doesn't choke on the water. "Why aren't you with her?" she squints at him and his double.

When he's assured that she won't fall from her seat, he takes one next to her, "Because like you, she doesn't want to see me right now," he sighs.

She rests her head in the palm of her hand and wills the world to stop spinning, damn magic, good for nothing, "But, aren't you her soul mate?"

"I am also the man who got her sister pregnant and, now has two children under the age of 6."

"That wasn't your fault though, the whole, Zelena thing. The way she treated you, the way she _raped_ you, that wasn't fair. I wouldn't wish that upon my worst enemy. Not that children are bad or anything, not that we gave her a real chance either. This is so damn complicated." It's one of the first times that she's actually given his situation any thought. Which now that she thinks about it, is odd, considering the guy's dating her son's mother.

"Sorry about all the shit that has happened to you dude," she pats his back with a little more force than intended.

He winces and briefly wonders if she still has Dark One powers, "Although it is difficult, there have been others who have been helping me, the Merry Men, you parents, even Zelena..."

The last name had really surprised him but, he was glad that the woman had finally taken the second chance, even if it were to care for their daughter. Motherhood actually suited Zelena when she wasn't hell bent on destroying everyone and everything in her path, justified if not anything.

"But, it's not the same without Regina," Emma finishes for him.

He nods his head sombrely, "Indeed."

"Aren't you supposed to hate me?" she asks a little hesitantly.

He gives her a questioning look and, she clarifies her meaning, "She woke me up with True Loves Kiss and, you're her soulmate, aren't you threatened or something?"

"All those things are true however, I believe that, had I been in your position and, she had kissed me when I was cursed, it would have been broken."

"So, what's the difference?"

He squares his shoulders and suddenly feels is age, "I have always prided myself on the ability to act honourably yet, I don't think that I've been acting that way to Regina. If ever, if at all."

"I love her, I do and, I'm certain that she loves me too but, I think that she's loves you too, I don't know when or how or, who is the best one to ensure her happiness but, it's been there for a while that thing between you two, that connection. And look, I'm an objective view but, when your love interest shares a son with someone, you cannot help but wonder, even if it's for a split second."

Emma nods her head; she had always wondered what people thought when she had introduced herself as the co-parent of Henry.

"It's damn complicated," he reiterates, causing them to share a tentative chuckle.

"Are you in love with her?" Robin suddenly asks.

Emma doesn't want to answer him because drunken admissions of love haven't always worked in her favour.

"So, you're what? Standing down to be noble?" she queries instead.

Robin looks at the bar mirror and comes to see more than the reflection of Emma and himself on its surface. There's a parallel in there somewhere he knows but, he was never one to philosophise.

"As I said, I love her and care for her but, not in the way you do and not in the way that I can ever understand."

Emma sighs into her now empty glass, having those words thrown back at her create memories that make her glisten and churn, instead, she mumbles a little incoherently causing Robin to chuckle.

"Come on, let's get you home Sherriff," he states and makes a move to help her stand.

As he struggles with her sluggish body, she shifts, making them both stagger.

"I thought you were a dick but, you're an alright dick," she murmurs and goes to swing a playful punch on his jaw.

Only, it wasn't his jaw but, his blurry double's, causing her to misstep.

She hears a, "Sherriff, no!" and feels the corner of a countertop.

And then, fade to black.

* * *

 **Present Time.**

The sound of the beating monitors arouse Emma awake, she looks around the room and knows that it's late at night. She concentrates on the murmurs that she hears just outside the curtain that separates her from the outside world.

"Regina, we need to talk," she hears Robin plead.

Emma's heart monitor spikes.

"Not now Robin, can't you see that Miss Swan needs…"

"That's what we need to talk about. I understand," Robin replies, there's an air of finality and acceptance to his words that she can't decipher for the life of her.

A few moments pass which makes Emma suddenly anxious.

"I'll go, just, call me," she finally hears and then, she hears the opening and closing of a door.

Silence fills the room for a few moments and then, she hears Regina sigh or perhaps, it was as sob.

The curtain suddenly opens and there the woman stands in all her rigid and fierce glory. Regina Mills, ramrod straight posture, worry lines etched in her forehead and wearing weary like a second skin.

Heaven forbid that we talk about what she's _actually_ wearing.

When the brunette's eyes finally land on Emma's, the blonde cannot help but feel so exposed. It hits Emma that Regina is the only one who has ever, can ever make her feel so vulnerable and strong at the same time.

"Emma, you're awake," she breathes.

Regina cautiously takes a seat on the most uncomfortable chair to ever exist, legs crossed and, hands in her lap. She sits close enough that Emma can feel the warmth radiating off of Regina but, not close enough that it sets her alight. Regina looks at Emma cautiously, looking as if she might bolt out the door at any second. If this were any other situation, Emma would have made the joke that the Evil Queen had transformed into Bambi.

Was Bambi even brought to Storybrooke? Did Robin kill Bambi's mum?

 _Focus, Swan._

She takes the woman's hand in her own and squeezes gently. She hopes that it'll ground her. Regina returns the gesture albeit a little tentatively.

"I must still be in the Underworld," Emma states hoarsely giving a little half smile.

Emma looks up and sees the flash of confusion on Regina's face.

"I only say that because only someone this sinfully beautiful would reside there," she finishes. Although she'll probably blame that line on the morphine and head trauma, she also wants to congratulate herself it.

A torrent of emotions flash by so quickly on Regina's face that Emma thinks she's gazing at the best feelings chart in the world.

Until finally it settles on fury, "Are you trying to induce a heart attack on me? You _idiot_ , don't you ever _ever_ do that again."

In contradiction to Regina's reprimand, Emma can't help but feel her heart beat warmly.

Despite the woman's jaw clenching and eyes set to glare, Emma knows this to be a façade. From Emma's past experience, this is how Regina shows her worry and her care.

Emma knows that this is the first time that they've seen each other in two weeks; she knows that they have so much to talk about but, right now she couldn't care less.

Because Regina still hasn't let go of her hand.

And to Emma, head trauma or not, this feels like a winning moment.

* * *

 **Thank you for reading.**


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